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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29538414">our hearts connected under the same sky</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chahakyn/pseuds/chahakyn'>chahakyn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Riku Is Bad at Feelings (Kingdom Hearts), Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:00:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29538414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chahakyn/pseuds/chahakyn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The thought that the three of them may not be together forever, that the threads of their lives aren’t inexplicably tied for eternity, makes him ache. What’s the point in being best friends if you won’t be at each other’s sides forever?</p><p>--</p><p>Riku's soulmark doesn't match Kairi's or Sora's. This is kind of a problem, given that he's in love with both of them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>our hearts connected under the same sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this thing has been in my drafts for like TWO YEARS which is insane in itself. also disclaimer: i have not played a single kingdom heart games. proceed with caution</p><p>fic title from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EYsx_QQbow">Sun &amp; Moon</a> by NCT 127</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Life is supposed to be simple. You get your soulmark at 13. And then all your romantic problems are solved. Or so they say.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It’s just the opposite, really. Before you’re 13, life is easy. Uncomplicated.</p><p>It’s just Riku, Sora, and Kairi. Three kids against the world of darkness, of monsters under the bed, of missed homework assignments and whispered secrets under the palm trees, fronds waving gently back and forth in the island breeze.</p><p>It’s the warm touch of friendship, wrapping Riku’s heart in a familiar embrace as he looks at his friends, bickering about how to best split a papou fruit into thirds without betraying to their parents that they ate fruit off trees without washing it first.</p><p>Life is easy. Uncomplicated. Until it isn’t.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The second Riku’s eyes open on his 13<sup>th</sup> birthday, he knows his mark doesn’t match Sora’s or Kairi’s. Call it a prediction, foresight, whatever you like. He just knows. He hopes for just a moment that Sora and Kairi’s marks don’t match without his (though he’s pretty sure they don’t; again, he just <em>knows</em>), before shaking his head. Why would it matter what their marks are?</p><p>It’s not until the three of them hold out their arms (all different marks, no matches) that it really hits Riku. The thought that the three of them may not be together forever, that the threads of their lives aren’t inexplicably tied for eternity, makes him ache. What’s the point in being best friends if you won’t be at each other’s sides forever?</p><p>He says as much, prompting Kairi to punch his shoulder before rolling her eyes.</p><p>“Don’t let the marks tell you what to do. If we wanna stay together forever? Then we will.” The way she says it is simple, like there’s no other option. And that’s Kairi to the core: unyielding at the end of it all. You want it? Then you take it.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>But you can’t. You can’t just take what you want because life isn’t that simple. There are other things that come into play. Responsibilities, rules, doubts, expectations, the inevitable action of growing apart. Riku tastes all of these in excruciating detail as they grow older, and yet he can’t quite put a finger on why it hurts so much. Friends do that, don’t they? They grow up, they move on, they get a life, fall in love with other people. That’s how friendships work, right?</p><p>It takes Kairi moving abroad, her arms wrapped tight around his waist as the overhead voice announces boarding numbers for her flight, for him to understand. For him to realize that he’s hopelessly in love with her. And then Sora’s leaning his head on Riku’s shoulder as they wave goodbye to Kairi and the pieces suddenly slot together. He loves them. Both of them.</p><p>But then their trio is splintered to the wind, and the more Riku wants, the less he knows he can have. To reach out and tangle his fingers in Kairi’s, to pull Sora closer to his side and press his face into Sora’s hair; it’s all just a wish, a pleasantly unrealistic dream, worlds away from what can actually happen.</p><p>So, Riku lets things stay that way, even if it’s hard. He just does his best to move forward, picking up whatever he can find to plug up the Kairi and Sora-shaped holes in his heart. It doesn’t work. But he keeps trying.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The warm press of Namin<em>é</em>’s lips against his is good. It feels good, but it’s not <em>enough</em>. He pushes forward anyway, sliding a hand up her arm. And then she suddenly pulls away, gaze knowing.</p><p>“You don’t have to try so hard to be someone you aren’t,” is all she says to him before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek and getting up to leave. He doesn’t stop her, instead mulling over her words while staring at the wall.</p><p>He should buy her lunch to make up for being a colossal asshole. He should call Kairi and Sora, his hand inches away from his phone where they’re both on speed dial, 1 and 2. It sits there, waiting. He doesn’t call.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It takes years. Years of separation and jobs and business trips before they’re even in the same city again. In the same area, surprisingly, a mere few blocks away from each other. The second Kairi finishes moving in after her long stint working abroad, Sora announces that they are now required to hang out more, to make up for lost time.</p><p>From there, it takes mere weeks to fall back into the familiar rhythm they built growing up. It seems that friendship is like riding a bicycle; you start a bit wobbly, but you can’t forget it. And what they have now satisfies the craving in Riku’s heart, just a little bit. It may not be what he wants, but this is enough. It has to be enough.</p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Riku is sitting on the couch with Sora sprawled in his lap, asleep, and Kairi curled into his side when she glances up at him with this…look in her eyes. Riku’s senses dampen as he feels her gaze on him, blocking out the quiet noise of the TV, the hum of the ceiling fan, everything except for the weight of Sora in his lap and the feeling of Kairi’s gaze on his.</p><p>Her look feels sharp, too perceptive for how late it is. It makes him feel like he’s been cornered, frozen in fear. Though, he isn’t afraid. He knows Kairi too well to be afraid of her.</p><p>“Do you want this?”</p><p>Riku kind of knew this was coming, the question hiding in the increasingly knowing looks passed over the dinner table, hiding in innocent hands wandering a little further than they should when the three of them pile on the couch together. The question itself doesn’t take him by surprise, but her words do, quiet and simple. Nothing more, nothing less. Riku swallows, nodding slowly. Kairi tilts her head. He clears his throat quietly and focuses on her collarbone, peeking out from behind her blouse.</p><p>“Yes. I have for, for a while. A long time.”</p><p>She nods back at him, straightening slowly until their faces are level, her breath fanning against his skin. Her mouth curves into a smile, a blossom unfurling in the cool night air with all the confidence of a woman who knows herself too well to have any doubts. She’s come a long way from being the shy little girl that clutched Sora’s arm and hid behind Riku when they were younger.</p><p>“That settles it, then.” And then she kisses him. Clean and no-nonsense, slightly chapped lips tasting like a hint of cherry lip balm applied hours ago, all so, <em>so</em> sweet against his tongue. Every millimeter of this kiss is utterly <em>Kairi</em> and Riku feels like he’s drowning in the best way possible.</p><p>“No fair,” Sora whines quietly from Riku’s lap, eyes slowly blinking open, “You said you’d wait for me.”</p><p>Riku chokes. Kairi shrugs, smiling. “You’re right here.”</p><p>“Still,” Sora groans, dragging out the syllables as he props himself up and slides his face into the crook of Riku’s neck, sighing. Riku’s hand rests at the base of Sora’s spine, mind speeding to frantic paces. It’s too good to be true, to have them both here and willing. If destiny won’t even give them matching marks to tie them together, how can they be so certain of this? Of him?</p><p>“Riku,” Sora murmurs, words brushing over Riku’s skin because <em>of course</em> he knows what Riku’s thinking, “If you don’t want to, then tell us. But we don’t care what people say. What the marks say.” Sora tilts his head, giving Riku a warm smile. Kairi rests her hand on his shoulder, leaning into him.</p><p>“I…I want this. So <em>much</em>,” Riku breathes, pressing his forehead against Sora’s, the tips of their noses barely touching. Riku reaches up, brushing Kairi’s cheek with his fingers as he beckons her closer. He can see her smile out of the corner of his eye, moving close enough that so that her lips slide against the shell of his ear.</p><p>“We want this too. We’ll <em>make</em> it our destiny.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Destiny isn’t always easy, especially when it’s self-made. It’s a struggle to find a place for the three of them in the world they live in. And yet, all of those troubles seem to slide away when they’re with each other.</p><p>Riku had thought he’d given up on destiny a long time ago. If he’s being honest with himself, the morning he woke up without marks matching Sora and Kairi’s was the day he refused to believe in it. And yet, that idea shatters so easily with Kairi and Sora at his side.</p><p>Sora’s lips against his, smiling like he can’t contain his happiness to save his life. Kairi’s guiding touch, fierce affection in everything she gives to him, to both of them. Every touch, every word, every feeling of love that wells up like a tidal wave in his heart serves to dissuade him of his fundamental beliefs.</p><p>Maybe destiny can exist, Riku thinks haltingly as Sora’s teeth scrape along the delicate skin of his inner thigh. Maybe destiny isn’t what the universe deals you, but what you do with what you’ve been dealt, what beauty you can twist the mundane into under your fingertips.</p><p>“Riku,” a voice whispers, and he snaps back into the present at that, shivering as Kairi mouths at the spot beneath his ear. “We lost you for a bit, hm?”</p><p>Sora snorts at that, looking up from between Riku’s legs. “Bored?” His eyes shine with hidden mirth, twinkling as his fingers creep across the jut of Riku’s hipbone. “I didn’t know you would be hard to please, Riku. Do we need to talk about this?"</p><p>“No, <em>no</em>, I—” He stops, eyes narrowing as he feels Kairi’s shoulders shake with muted laughter. “No, we really don’t.”</p><p>Sora huffs, eyes curving in crescents. “Good.”</p><p>Kairi wraps her arms around his shoulders at that, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. She leans against him as Sora settles against him. And Riku leans into both of them, always so helplessly drawn into their orbits. It’s like being split apart but put together at the same time, his soul splitting to meet his two halves, quarter by quarter in exquisite agony.</p><p>He wouldn’t have it any other way.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The universe always likes to have the last laugh, Riku’s learned over the years. When the inside of his wrist suddenly begins to ache in that devastatingly familiar way, he can’t help but laugh despite his panic. His love story was supposed to be complete, finished before it even started. He was supposed to have turned his back on destiny.</p><p>Apparently, the universe doesn’t like its directives being ignored.</p><p>Riku turns his wrist over slowly, peeking at the irritated skin with bated breath. The small dark blue key that meets his gaze punches the breath out of his lungs even though he’s never seen it before. His heart pounds regardless, every beat steady in its assessment; this is it. This is the mark he and Sora and Kairi will share. Call it a prediction, foresight, whatever you like. He just knows.</p><p>His hands won’t stop shaking as he answers the door, as he catches Sora barreling into him without warning.</p><p>“Riku, Riku, <em>Riku</em>,” he laughs joyfully into Riku’s skin, arm extended enough so that Riku can catch a glimpse of the key-shaped mark. Riku grins, giddy with relief as he wraps one arm around Sora. He extends the other to Kairi and she takes it, their eyes drawn to the matching marks on their wrists.</p><p>“Can I touch it?” Kairi murmurs quietly as his thumb rubs against her knuckles. He hums in assent and Sora’s chatter quiets as they both turn to watch Kairi’s fingers brush lightly over Riku’s mark, touch almost reverent. It doesn’t feel like fireworks of passion or excitement like some people say it should; it feels like the sun on his skin, warming the blood beneath it that thrums through his veins with a familiar ease. It feels like <em>home</em>.</p><p>The feeling extends to all of them as Kairi’s eyes widen and Riku can hear Sora breathe “Holy <em>shit</em>,” in his ear before he reaches out to touch Kairi’s mark. The feeling increases tenfold when Sora’s fingers stroke her skin. With a desperate huff, Riku reaches out, pulling Kairi’s arm close enough that he can trail his lips against her mark. He can hear both Sora and Kairi’s abrupt inhales.</p><p>“Bed,” is all he hears before Sora’s lips are pressed against his, the small noise Kairi makes in turn echoing in his ear. Kairi pulls them down the hall and they collapse in a heap on Riku’s bed, Kairi’s legs tangling with his and her hands sliding up his shirt as Sora trades kisses with him, tongue brushing against his teeth.</p><p>“Wait, wait, should we…talk about this?” Riku gasps out, placing his hands against Sora’s mouth and Kairi’s shoulder. Sora titters before licking a long, filthy stripe up Riku’s palm, a shudder running through Riku as his eyes squeeze shut.</p><p>“Do you <em>want</em> to talk about this right now?” Kairi says, and when Riku opens his eyes, he can see that her eyebrow is raised, almost a challenge. But her pupils are dilated, cheeks flushed, and he doesn’t have to think too hard to find the answer to her question.</p><p>“Not really.”</p><p>Kairi rewards him a smile, tilting her head. “Good.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Life is supposed to be simple. You get your soulmark at 13. And then all your romantic problems are solved. Or so they say. But it’s really just the opposite, really. Before you’re 13, life is easy. Uncomplicated.</p><p>But there’s a certain beauty to the complexity, Riku decides, Sora’s arm thrown over his chest and Kairi tucked neatly into his side. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>come find me on <a href="https://shizuoi.tumblr.com/"> tumblr</a> if you want to chat!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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